INTRODUCTORY. 



Some of the chapters of this little book were 

 written in 1888, on the shore of the Great South 

 Bay, Long Island ; others in the northern part 

 of New York State, known to its residents as 

 the " Black River Country," a year or two later. 

 Part of them have been published in The Atlan- 

 tic Monthly, Harper's Bazar, The Independent 

 and other papers. 



The nomenclature in the Table of Contents is 

 that adopted by the American Ornithological 

 Society. 



OLIVE THORNE MILLER. 



